The AIA Florida Northwest Chapter is proud to host it annual Gingerbread Competition in local elementary and intermediate schools. Building upon the previous success at West Navarre Intermediate (Santa Rosa), Breakfast Point Academy (Bay), and Workman Middle (Escambia), we have now expanded to Gulf Breeze Elementary (Santa Rosa) and Longleaf Elementary (Escambia). Workman Middle chose not to participate this year, but we now have 5th graders from four elementary schools spanning from Escambia County to Bay County.

In 2017, we began an exciting new partnership with the Bodacious Family of Shops that brought the top 3 entries from each school to compete against each other in a student category in the Bodacious Competition. The student houses were featured in the Bodacious Shops the weekend of the Downtown Pensacola Christmas Parade. These finalists competed against each other and other same-aged competitors from all around the region for bigger prizes and a Grand Prize that includes a golf cart ride with Kazoo (the Blue Wahoos mascot) in the Downtown Pensacola Christmas Parade.

Thanks to the dedication of our volunteers and the Bodacious Shops and the financial support of our sponsors Pen Air Federal Credit Union and Greenhut Construction, we were able to provide building lots and prizes at no cost to the students, the majority of whom are eligible for free/reduced meals. If you or your company are interested in contributing to and enjoying the fun-filled success of the annual AIA NWFL Gingerbread Competition, please contact us! If you are an educator who is interested in offering your students the opportunity to learn more about architecture and you would like to know more about how this event does that, get in touch!